Alliance structure choice in the telecommunications industry: between resource type and resource heterogeneity Online publication date: Mon, 02-Aug-2010
by Thomas Mellewigt, T.K. Das
International Journal of Strategic Change Management (IJSCM), Vol. 2, No. 2/3, 2010
Abstract: This empirical research analyses how firm resources influence the choice of governance structures in strategic alliances in the German telecommunications industry. The results of the study indicate that the choice of governance structure is determined by knowledge-based resources rather than resource heterogeneity, and support the claim that partner firms will use equity to safeguard their knowledge-based resources against opportunistic behaviour and unintended transfer of such resources. This paper also shows that there is no significant impact of trust, the number of alliance partners and whether the alliance partner competes in the same business, on the choice of the governance structures. Nationality of the alliance partners, strategic importance of the alliance and asset specificity are strongly confirmed as factors significantly influencing the alliance structure choice in the German telecommunications industry.
Existing subscribers:
Go to Inderscience Online Journals to access the Full Text of this article.
If you are not a subscriber and you just want to read the full contents of this article, buy online access here.Complimentary Subscribers, Editors or Members of the Editorial Board of the International Journal of Strategic Change Management (IJSCM):
Login with your Inderscience username and password:
Want to subscribe?
A subscription gives you complete access to all articles in the current issue, as well as to all articles in the previous three years (where applicable). See our Orders page to subscribe.
If you still need assistance, please email subs@inderscience.com
Our Blog 
Follow us on Twitter 
Visit us on Facebook